Comparative Political Research MA course, Spring 2007

Transcription

1 Comparative Political Research MA course, Spring 2007 Instructor Carsten Q. Schneider, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science Central European University Tel.: Classes Monday and Wednesday, 13:00-14:40 Office Hours Tuesday and Wednesday, 15:00 16:40 Teaching Assistant Eszter Simon PhD Student, Department of Political Science Central European University TA Sessions Monday and Wednesday, 15:00 16:40 Course Description The aim of the course is to make you familiar with the basic rules of comparative research, the most influential approaches in comparative political science, and some of the most salient topic in this sub-discipline of political science. This course will help you to evaluate the methodological merits of political science publications using a comparative approach, to recognize what intellectual tradition they belong to, and to design your own comparative research strategy. In the first part, we discuss some basics of the comparative methods, such as the logic of theory testing, the process of concept formation, of data aggregation, and the question of how to select your cases adequately. In the second part, we will read some pieces on the 'meta'-theoretical paradigms in comparative research. In the third part, we will deal with some of the major themes in comparative social research, such as the varieties of democracies and their respective performances. Finally, the last part will be dedicated to the presentation and discussion of each student's research project. Course Requirements The course meets twice a week. Most of the time, the first meeting of each week will be organized as a lecture, the second as a seminar. (1) You are expected to be actively present at all lectures and seminars. In case you are unable to attend, you need to inform me via . During the seminars you are expected to reflect critically on the mandatory readings. Questions and stimulating interaction during the lectures will be positively evaluated as well. Activity in the classroom can be complemented with questions, suggestions and comments sent to me 24 hours prior to the meetings. (2) Each student will have to do two minutes presentations on the assigned mandatory reading in a group of 2-3 persons, depending on the number of participants,. Each presentation needs to be accompanied by a 1-page handout. Structure, content, and function of this handout will be discussed in the beginning of the course. (3) You will have to write two position papers throughout the course. The deadline for these position papers are indicated in the course outline below. The approximately three pages long -

2 position papers must arrive 24 hours before the seminar to my box and the one of the teaching assistant. (4) There will be two take-home exercises. The dates and content of the exercises are indicated in the course outline below. The exercises need to be type-written and handed in 24 hours before the seminar to my box and the box of the teaching assistant. (5) In the last three weeks of the course, each of you will have to present a short research proposal in class in which you outline a prototypical study on a topic of your choice using the insights on methods and theories commonly used in comparative research that you have gained in this course. Each participant is asked to contact me as soon as possible in order to discuss the content of the research proposal. After the discussion of all papers in class, you will have another 2,5 weeks to improve your proposal based on the input from your fellow students. Evaluation (1) In-class participation: 15% (2) Two presentations: 20% (3) Two position papers: 20% (4) Two exercises 10% (5) Research proposal: 35% Useful Books and Sources of Information The following books are particularly relevant for this course. Brady, Henry E./Collier, David (eds.) (2004): Rethinking Social Inquiry: Diverse Tools, Shared Standards. Lanham: Rowman&Littlefield Chilcote, Ronald H. (1994): Theories of Comparative Politics: the Search for a Paradigm Reconsidered. Boulder: Westview Press Collier, David (1991): The comparative method: two decades of change. In Rustow, Dankwart A./Erickson, Kenneth Paul: Comparative Political Dynamics. Global Research Perspectives. Harper Collins, pp Gerring, John (2001): Social Science Methodology. a Critical Framework. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Daalder, Hans (1997): Comparative European Politics: the Story of a Profession. London: Pinter Elster, Jon (1989): Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press King, Gary/Keohane, Robert O./Verba, Sidney (1994): Designing Social Inquiry. Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Princeton: Princeton University Press Landman, Todd (2000): Issues and Methods in Comparative Politics. an Introduction. London: Routledge Lichbach, Mark Irving/Zuckerman, Alan S. (eds.) (1997): Comparative Politics: Rationality, Culture, and Structure. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Pennings, Paul/Keman, Hans/Kleinnijenhuis, Jan (1999): Doing Research in Political Science. an Introduction to Comparative Methods and Statistics. London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi: Sage Peters, P. Guy (1998): Comparative Politics: Theory and Methods. London: Macmillan Ragin, Charles C. (1987): The Comparative Method. Moving Beyond Qualitative and Quantitative Strategies. Berkeley/Los Angeles/London: University of California Press Shively, W. Philipps (2001): The Craft of Political Research.(5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Wiarda, Howard (2000): Introduction to Comparative Politics: Concepts and Processes. Fort Worth: Harcourt College Publishers Van Evera, Stephen (1997): Guide to Methods for Students of Political Science. Itaca: Cornell University Press Some journals you should regularly look at: American Journal of Political Science Comparative Political Research - 2 -

3 Comparative Politics European Journal of Political Research International Organization World Politics Course Outline Week 1 Part 1. Basics of Comparative Political Research Seminar 1: Mapping the Field Mair, Peter (1996): Comparative politics: an overview. In Goodin, Robert E./Klingemann, Hans- Dieter: A New Handbook of Political Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp Landman, Todd (2000): Issues and Methods in Comparative Politics. an Introduction. London: Routledge, pp Collier, David (1991): The comparative method: two decades of change. In Rustow, Dankwart A./Erickson, Kenneth Paul: Comparative Political Dynamics. Global Research Perspectives. Harper Collins, pp Seminar 2: Theories and Hypotheses Exercise No Hours prior to class, send a list of at least ten hypotheses to the instructor and TA. You are free to choose the topics. The hypotheses can deal with different themes that are of relevance in comparative political science. Van Evera, Stephen (1997): Guide to Methods for Students of Political Science. Itaca: Cornell University Press, chap. 1 Ragin, Charles C. (1987): The Comparative Method. Moving Beyond Qualitative and Quantitative Strategies. Berkeley/Los Angeles/London: University of California Press, chap 3, 4, 5, 9 Week 2 Seminar 3: Tools for Concept Formation Adcock, Robert/Collier, David (2001): Measurement validity: a shared standard for qualitative and quantitative research. American Political Science Review, vol. 95, issue 3, pp Collier, David/Levitzky, Steven (1997): Democracy with adjectives: conceptual innovation in comparative research. World Politics, vol. 49, issue 3, pp Sartori, Giovanni (1970): Concept misformation in comparative politics. American Political Science Review, vol. 64, issue 4, pp Sartori, Giovanni (1984): Guidelines for concept analysis. In Sartori, Giovanni: Social Science Concepts. a Systematic Analysis. Beverly Hills: Sage, pp Seminar 4: Issues of Data Aggregation - 3 -

4 Exercise No Hours prior to class, send a list of names and internet links of five data sets that are publicly available, free for download and that contain at least 30 countries. One of the data sets must be a global one, that is, a data set that covers all countries around the globe. For each data set, indicate what is (are) the main concept(s) that is (are) measured. Out of the list five data sets choose two. For each of these two, come up with both a narrative and a graphical representation showing and interpreting the location of your own country compared to its neighbors with respect to at least one of the concepts measured in each of the data sets. accessed on 2006 Collier, David/Adcock, Robert (1999): Democracy and dichotomies: a pragmatic approach to choices about concepts. Annual Review of Political Science, vol. 2, pp Gastil, Raymond Duncan (1991): The Comparative Survey of Freedom: Experiences and Suggestions. In Inkeles, Alex: On Measuring Democracies: Its Consequences and Concomitants. New Brunswick (New Jersey): pp Goertz, Gary (2002): Increasing concept - indicator consistency: the case of democracy. Manuscript, University of Arizona Munck, Gerardo L./Verkuilen, Jay (2002): Conceptualizing and measuring democracy: evaluating alternative indices. Comparative Political Studies, vol. 35, issue 1, pp Pennings, Paul/Keman, Hans/Kleinnijenhuis, Jan (1999): Doing Research in Political Science. an Introduction to Comparative Methods and Statistics. London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi: Sage, pp Week 3 Seminar 5: Issues of Case Selection Collier, David/Mahoney, James/Seawright, Jason (2004): Claiming too much: warnings about selection bias. In Brady, Henry E./Collier, David: Rethinking Social Inquiry: Diverse Tools, Shared Standards. Lanham: Rowman&Littlefield, pp King, Gary/Keohane, Robert O./Verba, Sidney (1994): Designing Social Inquiry. Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Princeton: Princeton University Press, chap 4 Ragin, Charles C. (2004): Turning the tables: how case-oriented research challenges variable-oriented research. In Brady, Henry E./Collier, David: Rethinking Social Inquiry: Diverse Tools, Shared Standards. Lanham: Rowman&Littlefield, pp Seminar 6: Ecological Fallacy (and Galton s Problem) Seligson, Mitchell A. (2002): The renaissance of political culture or the renaissance of the ecological fallacy. Comparative Politics, vol. 34, issue 3, pp Braun, Dietmar/Gilardi, Fabrizio (2006): Taking Galton s problem seriously. towards a theory of policy diffusion. Journal of Theoretical Politics, vol. 18, issue 3, pp Brinks, Daniel/Coppedge, Michael (2006): Diffusion is no illusion. neighbor emulation in the third wave of democracy. Comparative Political Studies, vol. 39, issue 7, pp Jahn, Detlef (2006): Globalization as "Galton's Problem": the missing link in the analysis of diffusion patterns in welfare state development. International Organization, vol. 60, pp

5 Naroll, Raul (1965): Galton's problem: The logic of cross cultural research. Social Research, vol. 32, pp Distribution of topic for position paper no. 1 Week 4 Part 2. Meta-Approaches in Comparative Political Research Seminar 7: Functionalism Almond, Gabriel A. (1960): Introduction: a functional approach to politics. In Almond, Gabriel A./Coleman, James C.: The Politics of Developing Areas. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, pp Parsons, Talcott (1964): Essays in Sociological Theory. New York: Free Press Seminar 8: Attitudinal Research in Comparative Politics Almond, Gabriel Abraham/Verba, Sidney (1963): The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes in Five Nations. Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp Easton, David (1968): The new revolution in political science. American Political Science Review, vol. 63, pp Inglehart, Ronald (1997): Modernization and Postmodernization Cultural, Economic and Political Change in 43 Societies. Princeton: Princeton University Press Pharr, Susan J./Putnam, Robert D./Dalton, Russell J. (2000): A quarter-century of declining confidence. Journal of Democracy, vol. 11, issue 2, pp Deadline for position paper no. 1 Week 5 Seminar 9: The Different (Neo)-Institutional Approaches Hall, Peter A./Taylor, Rosemary C. R. (1996): Political science and the three new institutionalisms. Political Studies, vol. 44, issue 4, pp Immergut, Ellen M. (1998): The theoretical core of the new institutionalism. Politics & Society, vol. 26, issue 1, pp March, James G./Olsen, Johan P. (1984): The new institutionalism: organizational factors in political life. American Political Science Review, vol. 78, pp , Peters, B. Guy (1999): Institutional Theory in Political Science: the 'New Institutionalism'. London: Pinter, pp Sartori, Giovanni (1994): Comparative Constitutional Engineering: an Inquiry into Structures, Incentives and Outcomes. London: Macmillan Thelen, Kathleen/Steinmo, Sven (1992): Historical institutionalism in comparative politics. In Steinmo, Sven/Thelen, Kathrin/Longstreth, Frank: Structuring Politics. Historical Institutionalism in Comparative Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp Seminar 10: Executive Formats and Electoral Systems Duverger, Maurice (1984): Which is the best electoral system? In Lijphart, Arend/Grofman, Bernard: Choosing an Electoral System. Issues and Alternatives. New York et al.: Praeger, pp

6 Linz, Juan José (1990): The perils of presidentialism. Journal of Democracy, vol. 1, issue 1, pp Baylis, Thomas A. (1996): Presidents versus prime ministers. shaping executive authority in Eastern Europe. World Politics, vol. 48, issue 3, pp Lijphart, Arend (1984): Trying to have the best of both worlds: semi-proportional and mixed systems. In Lijphart, Arend/Grofman, Bernard: Choosing an Electoral System. Issues and Alternatives. New York et al.: Praeger, pp Lijphart, Arend (ed.) (1992): Parliamentary Versus Presidential Government. New York: Oxford University Press, pp , Linz, Juan José (1990): The Virtues of Parliamentarism. Journal of Democracy, vol. 1, issue 1, pp Lijphart, Arend (1994): Electoral Systems and Party Systems. a Study of Twenty-Seven Democracies, Oxford: Oxford University Press Mainwaring, Scott/Shugart, Matthew S. (1997): Juan Linz, presidentialism, and democracy. a critical appraisal. Comparative Politics, vol. 29, issue 4, pp Powell, G. Bingham Jr. (1982): Contemporary Democracies: Participation, Stability and Violence. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, pp Week 6 Seminar 11: Federal and Unitary States Lijphart, Arend (1999): Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries. New Haven, CT ; London: Yale University Press, pp Schneider, Aaron (2003): Decentralization: conceptualization and measurement. Studies in Comparative International Development, vol. 38, issue 3, pp Stepan, Alfred (1999): Federalism and democracy: beyond the U.S. model. Journal of Democracy, vol. 10, issue 4, pp Seminar 12: Basics of Rational Choice and Game Theory Riker, William H. (1990): Political science and rational choice. In Alt, James E./Shepsle, Kenneth A.: Perspectives on Positive Political Economy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp Elster, Jon (1989): Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp Schelling, Thomas C. (1992): What is game theory? In Susser, Bernard: Approaches to the Study of Politics. New York: Macmillan, pp Week 7 Seminar 13: Game Theory in Comparative Research Munck, Gerardo L. (2001): Game theory and comparative politics: new perspectives and old concerns. World Politics, vol. 53, issue 2, pp

7 Frye, Timothy (1997): A politics of institutional choice: Post-Communist presidencies. Comparative Political Studies, vol. 30, issue 5, pp Hechter, Michael (1998): The future of rational choice theory and its relationship to quantitative macro-sociological research. In Blossfeld, Hans-Peter/Prein, Gerald: Rational Choice Theory and Large-Scale Data Analysis. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, pp Seminar 14: The Meta -Approaches in Relation to Each Other Dowding, Keith (1994): The compatibility of behaviouralism, rational choice and 'new institutionalism'. Journal of Theoretical Politics, vol. 6, issue 1, pp Blossfeld, Hans-Peter/Prein, Gerald (eds.) (1998): Rational Choice Theory and Large-Scale Data Analysis. Boulder: Westview Press Peters, B. Guy (1999): Institutional Theory in Political Science: the 'New Institutionalism'. London: Pinter, chap 3 Scharpf, Fritz W. (1997): Games Real Actors Play. Boulder: Westview Press Distribution of topic for position paper no. 2 Week 8 Part 3: Topics in Comparative Political Research Seminar 15: Democracy and Economic Growth Lipset, Seymour Martin (1981): Political Man. the Social Base of Politics.(extended ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, pp Barro, Robert J. (1994): Democracy and growth. Cambridge: NBER, Diamond, Larry (1992): Economic development and democracy reconsidered. American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 35, issue 4/5, pp Huber, Evelyn/Rueschemeyer, Dietrich/Stephens, John D. (1993): The impact of economic development on democracy. Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 7, issue 3, pp Przeworski, Adam/Alvarez, Michael/Cheibub, José Antonio/Limongi, Ferdinando (1996): What makes democracies endure. Journal of Democracy, vol. 7, issue 1, pp Przeworski, Adam/Limongi, Ferdinando (1997): Modernization. Theories and Facts. World Politics, vol. 49, issue 1, pp Seminar 16: Varieties of Capitalism Hall, Peter A./Soskice, David (2001): An introduction to varieties of capitalism. In Hall, Peter A./Soskice, David: Varieties of Capitalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp Bohle, Dorothee/Greskovic, Bela (forthcoming): Neoliberalism, embedded neoliberalism, and neocorporatism: paths towards transnational capitalism in Central-Eastern Europe. Western European Politics, Hall, Peter (1999): The political economy of Europe in an era of interdependence. In Herbert Kitschelt/Lange, Peter/Marks, Gary/Stephens, John: Continuity and Change in Contemporary Capitalism. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press Hall, Peter A./Soskice, David (eds.) (2001): Varieties of Capitalism. Oxford : Oxford University Press - 7 -

8 Kitschelt, Herbert/Lange, Peter/Marks, Gary/Stephens, John (1999): Introduction. In Herbert Kitschelt/Lange, Peter/Marks, Gary/Stephens, John: Continuity and Change in Contemporary Capitalism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Soskice, David (1999): Divergent production regimes: coordinated and uncoordinated market economies in the 1980s and the 1990s. In Herbert Kitschelt/Lange, Peter/Marks, Gary/Stephens, John: Continuity and Change in Contemporary Capitalism. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press Deadline for position paper no. 2 Week 9 Seminar 17: Varieties of Democracies Lijphart, Arend (1999): Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries. New Haven, CT ; London: Yale University Press, chap 2 and 3 Lijphart, Arend (1999): Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries. New Haven, CT ; London: Yale University Press, pp Lehmbruch, Gerhard (1967): Proporzdemokratie. Politische Systeme Und Politische Kultur in Der Schweiz Und in Österreich. Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr Lijphart, Arend (1984): Democracies: Patterns of Majoritarian and Consensus Government in Twenty-One Countries. New Haven: Yale University Press Seminar 18: Varieties of Welfare States Orenstein, Mitchell A./Haas, Martine R. (2005): Globalization and the future of welfare states in postcommunist East-Central European countries. In Glatzer, Miguel/Rueschemeyer, Dietrich: Globalization and the Future of the Welfare State. Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh University Press Esping-Andersen, Gosta (1990): The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Cambridge: Polity Press, chap 1 and 3 Janoski, Thomas/Hicks, Alexander M. (1994): The Comparative Political Economy of the Welfare State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Ragin, Charles C. (1994): A qualitative comparative analysis of pension systems. In Janoski, Thomas/Hicks, Alexander M.: The Comparative Political Economy of the Welfare State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp Week 10, 11 and 12: Presentations and Discussion of Students Research Proposals - 8 -